John Jones Music

“I think we should do this every night. What do you think?”

This was an f’ing awesome concert! It happened at the most un-appropriate time in my life.
My brother Paul Olejniczak was dying of AIDS.
Duran Duran were rejected by US television for the concert.
DD’s Spike Edney asked me to help with the finale.
I spent the rehearsal day with Nick Faldo and the concert with Mick Ronson.
I performed my single note for the intro of We are the Champions.
What an experience!

Growing up in Toronto, Canada had it’s perks: Edward Bear and Lighthouse were two of them! They played at our Junior High School Friday night dances!

I was almost 16 when these songs came along. In those days we believed what the singer was saying. The emotion meant something.

Edward Bear – Last Song

Lighthouse – Pretty Lady

Things that remind me of great people.

I have been visiting the LA84 Foundation library for the past five years, researching Southern California history. And I’ve been driving past Marvin Gaye’s house on half of those visits without knowing it. I found out when I stopped to look at a beautiful old 1908 house on Gramercy Place that was for sale cheap, a few months ago. It had belonged to Marvin’s sister. She rented rooms to teachers who worked at Widney High school, across the street.

A neighbor told me the story.

This is his house down the street, that was built in 1905, where his father shot him.

Marvin Gaye's home on Gramercy Place.

The link to SYCO’s Fairlight demonstration from the early 1980’s was so wonderful.

These machines were really awesome! We got ours at ESP in 1981.

The Control Room v3 with Fairlight CMI IIX at ESP Studios Buttonville

Dee Long had to cut his hair and shave his beard to get it!

A new man - Dee Long (1981)

It was a Series II. Later we upgraded to the IIX and then the Series III. And interest rates were 20 percent!

Fairlight CMI

Look what the future hath wrought! How cool is this?

The 2011 Fairlight CMI replica

It’s always a magic day when it includes a visit to EMI Studios, Abbey Road.

Way back in 1985-86, we lived on West End Lane in Ken Gold’s mansion flat. Abbey Road turns into West End Lane about 12 blocks north of the studio. The old brown V12 XJS used to drive past on a daily basis on the way to AIR Studios or SYCO or to John Henry’s. I never missed saluting and smiling as we rumbled by the world’s most famous recording studio.

John Jones crossing Abbey Road for the umpteenth time in July, 2011

Here is another photo of the Abbey Road pedestrian crossing from my archives. This one is from the hot hot summer of 1994!

Not The Beatles on the relocated Pedestrian Crossing on Abbey Road.

A great time was had by all at the historic Asphaltum Springs on the Rancho La Brea on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles this past weekend.

Within footsteps of LACMA and the Page Museum, the many Brazilians in Los Angeles had a party in Hancock Park.

I hung out with my friend Sergio Mielniczenko, who hosts the Global Village Show on KPFK on Fridays (listen to last Fridays show for a new Meninos do Morumbi track I remixed for Music is Hope Foundation), and  the Brazilian Hour on PRSS on weekends.

Here are some photos of the day, including one of me with Carnaval Muse, Sonaria.

The stage, early on.

Great Brazilian food!

Dancers

John Jones, Sergio Mielniczenko & Consul-General Ambassador José Afredo Graça Lima of the Consolate General of Brazil Los Angeles

JJ and Sonaria, the Carnaval Muse.

John Jones, Dr Gerhard Lengeling, and musician Sujin Nam, with some of Apogee's Tech Awards

With overwhelming joy, I finally got to meet Dr Gerhard Lengeling and Sujin Nam at the the Apogee 25th party in August.

Back in 1989, I was simply empowered, when I first started using Gerhard’s Notator/Creator music software on the Atari ST.

I still have my 1040 ST and Notator and Uniter, all ready to go at a moments notice. You will never ever have a better piece of music software under the Sun than Notator!

Where would I be today with out it?

Thanks Gerhard!

Congratulations to Betty Bennnett for her 25 years of setting a great example for the rest of us!

Betty Bennett

Apogee Electronics is a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise.

Betty co-founded Apogee in 1985.

We first met in Studio 1 at AIR on Oxford Street.
All the best digital recorders had Apogee filters from the beginning of digital’s dominance of the recording world in the late 1980s.

Apogee Electronics sponsors Music is Hope Foundation, and are banner philanthropists.

Here are some photos from the 25th Party last weekend:

Peter Barker of Threshold Studio & John Jones

JJ with Patrick Greppi of Apogee Europe

Jeremy Stappard and JJ

Jadeth of Apogee and Desiree

Bob Clearmountain of Apogee at the helm

Looking out to the studio

Studer Madness!

As if the last 20 years flew by, the dynamic trio reformed for a brief moment at Sphere Studios in Battersea, London this past July.

Just think of all the water under the bridge since 1990 when we finished the Duran Duran album Liberty (now old enough to drink)!

Click the Liberty link and see the band lip sync to the title track. It’s awesome to see Sterling Campbell on drums!

John Jones, Nick Rhodes and Chris Potter

Jones, Rhodes and Potter 2011

Jack Richardson, CM, has left the studio for the final time. After decades of being Canada’s father of record producing, “Sir” Jack passed away last week in London, Ontario at the young age of 81.

In his career Jack produced many of the Guess Who hits including These Eyes and American Woman. In the mid 1960’s he was one of the founders of Nimbus 9, a mutli-media production company that had the best recording studio in Toronto in Yorkville in the early 1970’s. Bob Ezrin started his career working for Jack at Nimbus 9. Ezrin brought in Alice Cooper, and they produced the Love it to Death album together, featuring the hits I’m Eighteen and the Ballad of Dwight Fry. Jack also produced Night Moves for Bob Seger and countless other International and Canadian acts throughout his five decade career. See Jack Richardson on Wiki.

I spent time at Nimbus when I was growing up, and I recorded with Jack on a couple of forgotten projects in the late 1970’s. Later, when Nimbus was closing down (around 1980?), Dee Long and I bought Ezrin’s favourite EMT Plate and some microphones and baffles for ESP, our studio in Buttonville. Bob pulled off the side cover so he could make sure it had his file marks on the metal sheet! Awesome!

Alice Cooper’s DaDa was recorded at ESP, which of course meant that Vince used the very same EMT reverb in two very different studios.

In reading about Jack’s career I couldn’t help but notice that he never won a Juno Award for Producing. Yes I know they have renamed the Producer Award in his honor, but, how could he have not won ten of them? That’s Canada for you.

Alice Cooper at Nimbus with Jack Richardson in the 70s